The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1887-10-01


soon as the tops are dead. -----
Where Celery is King.
Eugene Brown in Chicago Heraid.]
1t is in and around the fair and far
famed city of Kalamazoo that th0:cel
cry lord, with all his innate pride and
oder OF garlic, may best be Sound.
Here his coat of arms, consisting OF a
bunch of celery pendant on a silver
dollar guardant, may bee seen embi.z
oned ON his armoriai bearings and also
on the faces OF the shopkeepers. Her"
it is that over 5000 acres OF reclaimt d
land is devoted to the cultivation of
the crisp and toothsome stalk that is
gifted with nerve etreng theniDg proper
ties. 1t is saying that In Kalamazoo
they swear by celery and at every thing
else. The latter proposition may be Il
triffie harsh, but the former Is self ev-
ident to any visitor. In spite of the
fact that Kalamazoo leads the cuuntry
in light vehicles, wind mills, harrows
and many other branches of manufac-
ture, she still pins her faith and hope
and trust to celery lands and the Gel
cry lords.
The 5000 acres of celery lands were
once next of kin to huge marsh.
The city is built on slight rise of
ground in the midst Of an inextensive
valley Between the'Original sight of
the the town and the foothills were
once these low, marshy lands. The
HoIlanders, VINO were raising upland
celery here, we're among the first to
discover that these lowlands could be
drained and made the best celery lands
in The country. Successful expert
meDts resulted in revolution. The
marshes formerly of littlo il any value
price in the real estate market. Alarge
tract OF land almost in the heart of the
city, which had been left In its priini-
tive condition, was at once seized upon
and divided by far seeing HolIanders
into small tracts, each one Of which
afforded an excellent living for one Of
tue good sized families for which that
nation is famous. -...
After all the lands south and west of
the city had been devoted to celery
culture the boom shifted to the north;
and through the pioneer efforts Of the
late DIR. Uriai: Urjohn another half
mile of thickly settled celery territory
was added unto the city. TO "reclaim'
these lands only required the excava
ton OF trenches leading to the neigh
boring creeks. Then, with banking
up of tho sides, and, perhaps, Il little
filling in, the lands were converted into
some Of the richest soil which lies out
M full
figures, but enough Is known to war
rant the kalamaZulu for claiming for
his city the celery championship of the
world. The markets of New York
Chicago, st. Paul, Ciucinuatti, New
Orleans, and all large cities are sup
piled from Kalamazoo. Tho delicious
stalks even lind their way to SanF ran>
cisco, Texas, Florida aud New Eng
land, arriving in excellent condition
after their long journey.
The celery is carefully packed in
boxes holding from eight to fifty dozen,
and is shipped by express and refriger-
ator cars. During the buster season
over dozen extra wagons are put on
by tho express companies to transfer
the product to tho outgoing trains, and
the streets seem to witness tho contin-
uous passage Of an attractive celery
procession. Time was when the season
listed from September TO January, but
now the demand il incessaut Il nti the
capabiiity Of tho IIollander apcordinly
elastir, and the shippers are idle only
during the months of April aud May.
This year tho first celery came into
market June s, or nearly three weeks
ahead of the average year. The first
shipments were made June IS, and i,
goes without saying that Chicago was
the objective point. The old impress
sion that celery only went with oysters
is now obsolete. Ii is eaten tho year
round wherever it can be Obt aimed.
The method of bleaching celery now in
vogue does not need Il frost, and June
celery is just as crisp and tender as in
September. The product at kalamszoo
will closely approximate 100000
dozen per annum, which. at twenty
Eve cents, brings in 1875, 900. The bus
mess is principally done by the buyers,
although many raisers ship their own
product.
Celery raising has added its ,hous-
ands 10 the population Of the city. Not
a week goes hy without witnessing the
arrival Of forty or fifty Holiauders, who
plod stoically through the streets in
their wooden shoes and so3n become
absorbed in celery raising and form
part of the great commonwealth. In
the eyes of the residents of the city
q ~ ~l.~.~